💾 Archived View for spool-five.com › life › poetry › 2023_apr10_shanty.gmi captured on 2023-04-26 at 13:27:03. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

View Raw

More Information

⬅️ Previous capture (2023-04-19)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sea Shanty

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

Johnny was older

way past his prime

he was locked in Kilmainham

For another man's crime

When he got out

He buit his own shack

He filled all his chests

with gin and cognac

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

He lived for a few years

A hermit alone

With a view of the ocean

A home of his own

When under the moonlight

The lass first appeared

Her boat ran aground

And Johnny volunteered

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

She came every night

Along the white strand

With fire in her heart

and a hook for a hand

Johnny was smitten

She offered to marry

But he would never tell her

Where his treasure was buried

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

Johnny was a drinker

he drank every night

And sometimes he beat her

When the moon was not bright

A prisoner once Johnny

A prisoner now she

She worked up a plan

To help her get free

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

Her plans never worked

Old Johnny was shrewd

She knew the old world

But he knew the new

She fed him his cognac

'till he was flat in his bed

She drove her coral hook

Right into his head

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

Right into his bed

Johnny woke screaming

With last breath exclaimed

"You're not from Atlantis,

but a ghost from Kilmainham"

How the bow breaks

Old Johnny is dead

She came from Atlantis

He died in his bed

Back to poems